“when i left the house this morning, i noticed that i was short on cash,” gary said. “i spent one-half of what i had on my train ticket, then bought a quarter’s worth of candy. when i got to the station i spent half of what i had left, plus fifty cents, on newspapers. then i spent half the remaining money on bus fare, and gave seventy-five cents to a homeless man outside. when i got to work i had only a quarter left. how much did i start out with?